FILNER OUTLINES AGENDA FOR CITY

Ingram, who is engaged to wed Filner in October, also spoke about her new initiative, Team First Lady, a group of community volunteers that will raise money for local causes such as homelessness and neighborhood beautification.

“Team First Lady is an umbrella under which all may gather,” said Ingram, who works for the Social Security Administration. “Those who have something to offer or share and those who are in need of a helping hand. Tonight, I’m asking all of you to please join our team. Whatever time or skills you have can make a world of difference to someone who is in need.”

Filner took a large portion of his speech to hand out “Living Legends” awards to San Diegans who have given back to the community through their civic or philanthropic roles (former Mayor Maureen O’Connor gave out similar awards when Filner was on the City Council in the 1980s). The recipients Tuesday included Father Joe Carroll, entrepreneur Ernest Rady, former Padres star Tony Gwynn and ex-politician Leon Williams.

“I want to thank you all for making a difference,” Filner said. “All of us here in San Diego are the beneficiaries of your decency, your kindness and your willingness to both your intellectual and your material resources with our community.”

Filner, who had been in Congress for the past 20 years, defeated Republican Carl DeMaio in the Nov. 6 election. He made several promises throughout the campaign and reiterated several Tuesday night. Here are some of the highlights from the speech:

• Filner plans to reorganize land use and redevelopment functions under a new Department of Healthy, Safe and Livability Neighborhoods to focus on updating community plans and affordable housing issues.

• The city’s newly created Border Affairs office will open Feb. 1.

• He wants to reach a five-year labor deal with unions with a freeze on pensionable pay.

• Starting Feb. 2, Filner will hold court in the lobby of City Hall to address the public’s concerns for the first Saturday each month.

• He pledged to push for more resources for alternative transportation and specifically advocated a light-rail link to San Diego International Airport.

City Heights resident Abdulrahim Mohamed praised Filner’s focus on the environment and neighborhoods after attending the speech.

“I really like what he wants to do about building a sustainable community and creating neighborhood empowerment,” he said. “It was awesome.”

One of Filner’s first moves since taking office in early December was to put a halt to managed competition, the voter-mandated process of putting certain city services up for competitive bid with the private sector. Another big decision came last week when he declared an end to the city’s prosecution of medical marijuana dispensaries.

The next big steps for the Filner administration will be negotiating labor deals with the city’s six employee unions and putting forth a budget proposal by April 15 for the fiscal year that begins July 1.